


to catch a ghost

by blackgoliath



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, anyway i apologize for everything, not to say the whole thing isnt already that, this is basically if blue exorcist had a yaoi anime arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2014-09-19
Packaged: 2018-02-03 20:39:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1756533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackgoliath/pseuds/blackgoliath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The cram school kids are split into teams and given a mission to finish on their own; when Rin and Suguro are paired up, Rin finds out why Suguro has been acting so weird since they fought the Impure King.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. it begins

“For your next mission, we'll be working in teams of two.” Yukio looked at each of the Esquires in turn. “Each team will be sent to a location in the city and, over the next three days, exorcise the demon residing there.” Yukio paused and looked straight at Rin, who was standing near the end of the line. “That means you too, brother.”

“Me?” Rin glanced over at Shiemi, who was standing beside him. She smiled encouragingly up at him and he grinned in return. _If I'm lucky I'll get paired with her!_ “Sweet!”

“Kirigakure and I will be routinely checking in to make sure everything is running smoothly. If at any time you need help, call one of us and we will be there as soon as possible.”

“But that'll get you an automatic fail,” Kirigakure cut in with a smirk. “So if you get in a tough spot, ya better figure it out yourself!”

The Esquires shifted almost as one. For Suguro, Izumo, and Rin, this new mission sounded exciting, and they had no doubts about successfully completing it. For the others, well... the last two missions had taken a lot out of them. Shima in particular was looking troubled, like he'd rather be doing anything but this. Their worry mixed with the air of restlessness coming off the other three, Rin especially. His fingers curled unbidden into determined fists at his sides. Whatever Yukio and Shura had in mind, this could really be his chance to prove that he was well on his way to surpassing his younger brother.

 _And_ , a tiny voice said in his mind, _to prove that you were worth saving._

“There are three different missions, one for each team,” Yukio went on. “You'll be told where you'll be going and what your objective is after we've separated you into pairs.”

“Do we get to choose?” Rin interrupted.

“Nope! We picked your partners for ya.” Shura grinned. “Rin, you're gonna be workin' with Suguro.”

“What? No fair!” Rin jerked his thumb in Suguro's direction, who glared at him from around a quivering Konekomaru. “I don't wanna have to work with chicken head!”

“What'd you call me?!” Suguro yelled.

“You heard me, _chicken head_.”

“Why you--!”

“Hey! Knock it off!”

Shura's yell shocked them into silence, though they didn't stop glaring at each other behind Konekomaru's back.

“Kamiki and Shiemi will also be a team, while Shima, Miwa, and Takara will make up a three-man team,” Yukio continued, purposefully acting as though nothing had happened. “Shiemi and Kamiki, you'll be meeting with Tsubaki for your mission assignment. Suguro and Rin, you'll go with Kirigakure, which leaves Takara, Shima and Miwa with me.”

The group split, each team heading off with their respective assigned teacher. Rin frowned after Yukio, who was taking Shima, Koneko, and Takara off to a different room so he could brief them on their mission. Yukio had barely talked to him since they'd fought the Kraken, and even now he'd refused to make eye contact with Rin. He grit his teeth as he and Suguro followed Shura into a separate classroom, Rin eyeing her from behind as they walked down the hallway. _She_ probably knew what was up with his brother, but yesterday when he'd tried to ask between lessons she'd just shrugged, saying she had no idea what was up with Yukio. The memory annoyed him even more.

It must've shown on his face because he heard Suguro ask, “What's your problem, Okumura?”

“Nothing.” Rin did his best to relax.

“Save that fightin' spirit for your mission, Rin,” Shura said over her shoulder. “Yer gonna need it.” Once they reached their destination she held the door until both Rin and Suguro were inside, then closed and locked it behind them.

Suguro watched her the entire time. “What's with the secrecy?”

“Are we gonna fight something big, like the Kraken?” Rin pulled himself up onto a desktop, grinning broadly.

“Nope.” Shura leaned back against the teacher's desk, arms crossed over her chest. “Your mission's small fry this time on purpose. You just had your _execution_ held off, Rin; the Vatican's grateful for your help but they'd obviously prefer if ya kept your flames in check for a little while.”

Rin scoffed. “But without 'em, I wouldn't've been able to--”

“I know, I was there.” Shura pursed her lips. “But you're still on probation. One more slip up with your flames, especially on a training mission like this, and I don't know if there'll be a good deed big enough to save ya this time.” Rin's lips turned down in a scowl and he wanted to say something, something that would argue his case, but for once he bit his tongue. He could feel Suguro watching him and his cheeks reddened.

“Anyway, as I was sayin'.” Shura pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it. “You two'll be taking care of a pretty simple haunting out in the western district. Little girl's seein' things, stuff's moving on its own, yada yada. Your mission is to head over there and exorcise the spirit, and you've got three days to do it. Since you're _so good_ now, Rin, I 'spect you'll get it done in one and spend the rest of the time lounging around, right?” She smirked. “This paper's got directions to the house – where you'll be stayin', by the way, the family's generously offered to house you – and more details on the mission. Any questions?”

“Yeah, I got one.” Suguro was leaning back against the desk next to Rin, arms crossed in a manner similar to Shura's. “What happens if we don't exorcise this ghost before the three days is up?”

“You fail, plain and simple.” Shura was still smiling as she handed the paper to Rin. “And if ya call for help you fail too, like I said. But don't sweat it. When I said this mission was small fry, I meant it. And it's only worth, what, half your final grade?”

Rin stared. “ _Half?_ ”

“You'll be fine.” Shura stood up straight and stretched her arms toward the ceiling, not bothering to cover her mouth as she yawned. She brought her hands back down slowly and winked at Suguro, who flushed, before she turned a serious expression to Rin.

“Oh, and what I said before, 'bout yer flames? Yeah. The Vatican doesn't want you usin' them _at all_ on this mission. And I mean not. At. _All_.”

“But--!”

“Anyway, you two should get going,” Shura continued, cutting Rin off. “The family expects the two of you bright an' early tomorrow morning, and ya need time to pack and get some shut-eye.” She started to leave, ruffling Rin's hair as she passed and earning an irritated 'Hey!'. When she reached the door, she offered a cheeky wave over her shoulder and said, “See you in three days!” before unlocking the door and disappearing into the hallway.

“I bet everyone else didn't get this treatment,” Rin said irritably, not bothering to fix his mussed hair. His demeanor changed completely when he thought of his friends and who they'd been paired with. “I wonder what mission Shiemi got?”

“You'll have to ask her later.” Beside him, Suguro straightened and put his hands behind his head, looking bored. “Something more challenging than what we got, probably. I knew they'd want you to be more discreet after our last mission but I didn't think they'd give us such an easy exorcism.” He huffed. “Just my luck.”

“This isn't just _my_ fault!” Rin exclaimed indignantly. Then, with a sigh, he slid off the desk. “Anyway, I've been trying to accept my powers and use 'em for good, but I guess this time I'll have to go without.”

“You had to start learning other exorcist methods at some point.” Suguro glanced over at him and smirked. “Maybe I could use this opportunity to teach ya some Sutra chants.”

Rin snorted. “Yeah right! I'm still strong, I'll just punch the ghost until it goes away!” He threw a few punches to demonstrate, teeth bared in a cocky grin. Suguro's expression soured.

“You can't punch a ghost, idiot!” He pushed past Rin, not _too_ roughly, and stopped at the door to look back.

“Kirigakure said to go home and pack, so that's what I'm gonna do. We'll meet outside the Academy tomorrow morning.” The edges of his scowl perked up slightly. “I'll bring my prayer books.”

When Rin got home, it was to a busily cooking Ukobach, a snoozing Kuro, and, for the third night in a row, no Yukio. Rin frowned as he stepped inside and took off his shoes. It was fairly obvious that Yukio hadn't been home in a while, too – the place was pretty messy. Though Rin liked to think of it as 'homely clutter', Yukio would always berate him to at least try and keep everything tidy. Wihout Yukio, Rin's messy habits were leaving their mark, from clothes on the floor to books he'd used for homework and never bothered to put away. Rin pushed a dirty pair of pants onto the floor so he could sit on the edge of his bed and gently brush a hand over Kuro's head.

 _Mrr?_ The cat demon woke slowly, baring tiny fangs as he yawned. _Rin?_

“Hey.” Rin scratched down Kuro's back, earning him some contented purring. “You seen Yukio today?”

Kuro shook his head. _No. He didn't come back at all._

“Right.” Rin scowled, his mood nosediving straight into angry. “What has he been _doing_ ? Where does he _sleep_? I'm sick of this, Kuro. He doesn't even give me enough time to ask about it when I see him.” Rin shifted so he could flop onto his back beside Kuro.

“This sucks.”

 _I'm sorry, Rin_ . Kuro nuzzled up next to him for a moment, then jolted upright. _I know! Let's cheer up with some catnip wine!_

Rin laughed and wrapped his arm around Kuro. “Thanks, but I'll pass.” He yawned, half-heartedly putting a hand over his mouth. “I think I'll just take a nap.”

Kuro curled up contentedly against his side. _Me too_.

“Just a short one,” Rin added drowsily. His eyelids were already closing. “Just a quick...catnap...”

He woke up the next morning, fifteen minutes before he was supposed to leave, and spent a panicked half hour throwing clothes, toiletries, and anything else he'd need for the mission into a duffel bag. He had to leave without eating any of the nutritious meal Ukoback had made for his breakfast, and was yelling apologies over his shoulder at the annoyed chef as he ran out the door. When Rin finally made it to the front of the Academy he was out of breath and a full twenty minutes late. Suguro was already there, and when he spotted Rin sprinting toward him he turned an even darker shade of purple.

“Where the hell were you?!” he hollered once Rin was in earshot.

“I overslept!”

“Are you _serious_?! We're gonna be late!” Suguro grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him toward the train station, which was a few blocks away. “How do you always manage to be late? You'd think you were an anime protagonist!”

“I said I overslept! Jeez, what d'you want from me?” Rin's tail flicked irritably behind him, and he half-consciously reminded himself to hide it. “Stop pulling so hard, it hurts!”

“Like hell it does.”

Suguro didn't let go until they'd boarded the train and were well underway. Surprisingly it wasn't very crowded, so they were able to pick some fairly isolated seats. After they'd sat down Rin took some time to pout and rub at his arm, where Suguro's tight grip had left a slight red mark. When he looked up he saw Suguro watching him.

“Does it hurt?”

“Nah. I heal pretty quick.” As he spoke, the redness faded away, and he gave Suguro a wide grin. “See? I'm fine.”

Suguro looked at him for a second, so intensely that Rin felt uncomfortable and started to fidget, and then turned pink and looked away. They fell into awkward silence and Rin tried to distract himself from Suguro's weird vibes by watching the city pass by the window. In the glass he could see his own face reflected, mouth curved in a frown. He really hoped Suguro wasn't going to act like this the whole time they were on their mission. It was bad enough that Yukio was pissed at him; he didn't want to deal with a moody Suguro for three days. He could barely handle these last ten minutes without wanting to grab Suguro by the shoulders and shake him out of this funk.

And at least in Yukio's case he sort of knew what was going on; he had _no_ idea what had crawled up Suguro's butt.

“Wish I'd been paired with Shiemi,” he muttered unconsciously under his breath.

“What!” Suguro's shout almost had Rin jumping right out of his seat. “You know I'm sitting right here, right?!”

Rin laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. “Woops, did I say that out loud?”

“ _Yes!_ ”

“Ah, well, I'm just saying, Shiemi wouldn't be this shouty...”

“What do you mean, shouty? And you're one to talk!”

“Hey, what's that supposed to mean--?!”

They were interrupted as the train pulled into their stop and a woman's voice announced their arrival. Still glaring at each other, they grabbed their stuff and got off the train.

Rin shouldered his duffel bag with a huff, glancing around the busy station. “Where to now, Princess?”

Suguro growled. “I told you to stop calling me that! And _you're_ the one with the directions, aren't you?”

“Oh yeah.”

According to the directions Shura had given him, their destination wasn't too far from the train station, so even though Rin took two wrong turns (before Suguro got fed up and took over interpreting the directions) they weren't as late as they could have been, all things considered.

They found the house, a neat little thing tucked in the corner of a dead end street, only fifteen minutes later than they should have. When Rin knocked on the door he was greeted by a friendly-looking woman in her forties.

“Ah, you must be the exorcists from the True Cross Academy; I'd recognize those uniforms anywhere.” The woman smiled and Rin, who'd been a little nervous, immediately relaxed. “My name is Haruka Abumi. Please, come inside.”

“Thanks.” Rin stepped through the door and Suguro followed. “I'm Rin Okumura, and this is--”

“Ryuuji Suguro,” Suguro interrupted.

“A pleasure to meet you.” Haruka closed the door behind them, still smiling. “Would you like something to drink, or eat? I've prepared breakfast, if you're hungry.”

As if awakened by the promise of food, Rin's stomach growled loudly and he gave a sheepish grin.

“Yeah, that'd be great, thanks!”

After they took off their shoes and Haruka had turned to lead them further inside, Suguro drove the point of his elbow into Rin's ribs, earning a quiet yelp of pain.

“What was that for?” Rin hissed.

“Don't presume to introduce me,” Suguro replied heatedly. “I can do it myself.” Without looking at him, Suguro moved ahead and followed Haruka through an archway into the kitchen. Rin lagged behind a bit, rubbing his side where Suguro had elbowed him. Yes, he had _definitely_ had enough of Suguro's weird, rapidly changing moods.

“Is everything alright?” Rin looked up and realized he was in the kitchen; Haruka was standing near the fridge and giving him a slightly puzzled smile.

“What? Oh, yeah, sorry. Everything's fine.”

Rin looked around the kitchen. The dining room was right next to it, and through the doorway he could see a generous breakfast spread laid out on the dining room table. Suguro was already sitting down, plate loaded with delicious-smelling food. Rin licked his lips, stomach rumbling greedily.

“Feel free to eat as much as you want,” Haruka offered. “Our fee for this exorcism is feeding and housing you, and I've got plenty of food for the next couple of days.”

“Alright!” Rin took the seat next to Suguro and started grabbing food from every plate within reach. “Thank you!”

“You're welcome.” Haruka hovered in the doorway. “There's just one more thing – ah, there she is.” Haruka walked back through the kitchen and into the hall, and when she came back she had a kid with her, a little girl with brown skin and tightly curled hair tied up in pom pom-like pigtails.

“Suguro and Okumura, this is Suki. Suki, say hello.”

Rin expected the little girl to hide shyly behind her mother, but instead Suki beamed and ran over to him.

“Hi! I'm Suki. Why are your ears so pointy? Are you a _real_ exorcist?”

Rin grinned down at her. “You bet I am! And that's because--”

“Don't listen to him,” Suguro cut in, shooting Rin a look. “We're still in training.”

“Cool!” Suki looked back at her mother. “Can I train to be an exorcist? Can I?”

“I'll think about it.” Haruka shook her head with a smile. “But first, wash your hands so we can eat.” Suki immediately ran off to the bathroom, still babbling about becoming an exorcist, and Haruka turned to Rin and Suguro, who were about to dig into the food they'd piled onto their plates. “Boys,” she added, in a tone with quiet steel hidden behind the kindness, “That goes for you too.”

After having thoroughly washed their hands (she made Rin do it twice when he tried to get away with a quick rinse) the four of them sat down at the table and, after giving their thanks for the food, started eating.

“So if you're exorcists in training,” Haruka asked conversationally, “Why didn't they send a teacher or chaperone with you?”

“Hauntings usually don't require high-level exorcists,” Suguro explained after swallowing his mouthful of eggs. “So this is kind of like a test for us, to see if we can complete a field mission on our own. But,” he added hastily, “if something goes wrong, we can just call our teacher to come in and handle it.”

“Ah, I see.” Haruka's smile never wavered, but Rin could feel a chill emanating from her. “Then I trust you both know what you're doing, and the school hasn't sent me two inexperienced boys who will put my family in danger.”

Rin and Suguro exchanged glances.

“No way, you don't have to worry about that at all!” Rin grinned and gave her a thumbs up. “We'll keep you guys safe no matter what!”

“You're sooooo cooooool!” Suki pulled herself up in her seat, holding herself up on the table with her hands. “Like a superhero!”

“Honey, sit down.”

“Superhero, huh?” Rin's grin broadened and he completely missed Suguro rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I _am_ kind of like a superhero!”

“Try not to get too cocky, Okumura,” Suguro warned.

“Why not, chicken head? Then I can be just like you!”

“I thought I told you to cut it out with all the stupid nicknames--!”

“After breakfast,” Haruka said loudly, shutting them both up, “I'll give you a tour of the house and show you where most of the activity is happening.”

Suguro bowed his head. “Thank you, Miss Abumi.”

“I don't know, I might need a nap.” Rin rubbed his full, bulging stomach. “I'm feeling kind of tired.”

Suguro glared at him. “You can nap later!”

When they'd finished eating and Suguro and Rin had cleared the table, Haruka brought them both into the front hall near the door, leaving Suki to play on her own.

“You know where the kitchen is from here; the family room is a little further down on the right, and there's a bathroom across from it. I'm going to take you upstairs, since that's where most of the activity is.”

She led them up a set of narrow steps tucked into the corner of the front hallway. The stairs were old and worn, and Rin could hear them creaking under his feet. It definitely set a creepy atmosphere, and he could imagine this place hosting a spirit or two. The second floor had a more homely feel, though, with polished wooden floors on the landing and leading into the bedrooms. Haruka led them to the first door directly across from the staircase.

“This is the master bedroom, where my husband and I sleep.” She opened the door on a moderately furnished room with a queen-sized bed set in the middle beneath a small window. It was tidy and smelled like clean laundry, and it gave Rin a weird sense of longing for his childhood home and the old man, though his father had never smelled like that.

“Sometimes in here we can hear footsteps in the hall when we're both in bed and Suki is sleeping; I've also come home to the door being open even though I'd closed it that morning and nobody was home all day. Little things like that, things I can't really explain.” Haruka gestured to the bed. “I've even come back once or twice to find the bed made on a day when I'd been too tired to do it myself that morning.”

“And you know for certain nobody was home? Your house doesn't have a tilt to it that may cause the door to open by itself?” Suguro was examining the door, slowly opening and closing it and watching the hinges.

Haruka shook her head. “My husband is usually away on business, and I work all day while Suki is at school.” Haruka looked at Rin as she spoke. “I don't know about the tilt, but I doubt that would explain the other things that have been happening. Follow me.”

Haruka then brought them out of the master bedroom and further down the hall, to the last door on the right.

“This is Suki's room.” This room was full of childish clutter, dolls and toys and dress-up clothes scattered across the floor. Haruka sighed when she saw the mess.  
“I thought I told her to clean this yesterday...”

“So, it always looks like this?” Rin asked.

“Oh, yes. My Suki is not a neat child.” Haruka picked up some of the clothes nearest her and deposited them in a hamper near the bed. Rin moved further into the room and noticed that the blankets had a magical girl theme, along with most of the posters lining the walls.

Suguro moved to stand beside Rin, gaze sweeping the room.

“Is this where most of the activity happens?”

“Yes. Do you sense something?”

Suguro shook his head. “No, but it's common for spirits to focus on children. Kids are more open-minded than their parents, and it's easier for the spirit to interact with them.”

“I don't like the sound of that,” Haruka said, frowning. “Suki's never said anything about it hurting her, but...”

“But what?” Suguro said, watching her closely. “What happened in here?”

Haruka fidgeted, and Rin realized she was uncomfortable, even...embarrassed?

“Suki often plays in here by herself, and sometimes we hear her talking out loud, as if she's talking to someone. We thought it was just an imaginary friend, but...” Haruka put her hands on her elbow and stared at a spot off to the left of Rin's head. “I've seen things, dolls floating, strange shadows...her bed moves on its own sometimes, just a few inches to the left or right, but we know she's not doing it; the bed is way too heavy for her to lift. And I've heard....voices, sometimes. I can't tell what they're saying, but I hear them. I'm not sure how Suki sleeps in here most nights. And then a few weeks ago, something else happened, and that's when I decided to call an exorcist.”

Rin perked up. “What happened?”

“One night, after I'd picked Suki up from school, we cam back and found her room completely trashed.” Haruka rubbed her arms. “And I don't mean just messy like this. All of her stuff had been thrown around, her blankets had been pulled off her bed and thrown on the floor...her nightstand was tipped over, the lamp broken, and her clothes had all been ripped out of her dresser. It looked like somebody had ransacked the place! And then Suki said, 'He's angry'.” Haruka shuddered. “I don't know why, but at that moment I got the worst chill....and that's when I decided to do something about it.”

Suguro nodded thoughtfully and rubbed his chin. Rin could practically see the gears turning in his head.

“I think I know what we're up against,” he said finally.

“Really?!” Rin turned to him. “You figured it out already?”

“Yeah, and you would've too if you actually studied once in a while.”

“Hey--!”

Haruka shot them both a glare and once again they shut up instantly. “What is it?”

“I think,” Suguro began, “that what we have here is a Poltergeist.”

Rin blinked. “Poltergeist?”

“Yeah.” Suguro looked up. “A Poltergeist is an angry spirit, often a former resident of the land, that moves furniture, misplaces things, and causes messes like what Miss Abumi described.”

“How do we fight it?”

“We don't,” Suguro replied, shooting Rin a glare. “We have to get it to show itself, and then chant a Sutra to exorcise it.”

“Why can't I just cut it in half with my sword?”

“Because you can't just keep pulling your sword out whenever you feel like it!”

“But it always works!”

“Enough!” Rin's and Suguro's mouths both closed with a snap and they bowed their heads in shame.

“Sorry, Miss Abumi,” they said in unison.

Haruka crossed her arms. “I appreciate you coming here to help us, but from now on there are two rules you _absolutely_ must follow.” She held up a finger. “One? You two need to stop arguing all the time. It's disruptive, obnoxious, and solves nothing.” Both of them flushed as she held up a second finger. “And two: absolutely _no swords_ will be drawn in my house. Do you understand me?”

“Yes ma'am,” they both muttered. She nodded.

“Good. Now I'll take you to the guest room, where you'll be staying, and then I'm going to take Suki to school.” She relaxed slightly. “I'd like the two of you to clean up the breakfast dishes, please, and then you have the rest of the day to figure out this Poltergeist thing.” Haruka looked from one boy to the other, dead in the eyes, as if daring them to say no. When neither spoke, she smiled.

“Alright, let's go.”

Haruka led them out of Suki's room and to the one right next to it. As she was opening it Rin felt something, a strange aura, and whipped around to look back at Suki's door. He didn't see anything, but the feeling didn't go away; and as soon as he faced front again he heard a whisper, loud enough that it sounded like it was right behind him--

_Suki!_

“Ahh!” Rin jumped. Suguro, who hadn't yet walked into the guest room after Haruka, glanced back at him.

“What are you yelling about?”

“You didn't hear that?” Rin spun around, searching for the source of the voice. All of the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end and it felt like his scalp was crawling.

Suguro frowned. “Hear what?”

“There was a voice...it sounded like I was right behind me.”

“What'd it say?”

Rin's lips were set in a thin line. “It said 'Suki'.”

Suguro's eyes widened, and just then Haruka peered out at them with a puzzled smile.

“Is everything okay?”

Rin opened his mouth to tell her what he'd heard but Suguro cut him off.

“Everything's fine,” he said, giving Rin a pointed look. “Rin thought he heard something but it turned out to be his imagination.”

Haruka watched him for a moment – Rin wondered how Suguro could look so cool under that stare when he was sweating a little and she wasn't even looking at him – before nodding and smiling again.

“This house is old; it makes strange noises even without ghosts.” She held the door to the guest room open for the two of them as they stepped inside. This room was slightly smaller than Suki's, very sparingly furnished, and – as Rin and Suguro noticed at the same time – only had one bed.

“We have to _sleep together_?” Suguro exclaimed.

“Inside voice,” Haruka scolded. “And yes, unfortunately, the guest room only has one bed, so you'll have to share. But it's a queen mattress; you should both have plenty of room.”

Rin made a face at the idea of sharing. He liked to have a lot of space to himself when he slept. He glanced at Suguro, meaning to share his irritation, but when their eyes met Suguro flushed pink and immediately looked away. Rin frowned. It seemed like Suguro was going to keep acting weird...this was going to be an even longer three days than he'd thought.

“When you're done with the dishes,” Haruka was saying, completely ignoring the scene before her, “you can bring your bags up here and settle in. Okay?”

Rin forced a smile. “Yeah, sounds good.”

She brought them back downstairs (Rin straining his ears for any sign of the voice, to no avail) to find Suki all ready for school. She had on a little pink jacket and a clashing bright green backpack. The overall effect was adorable.

“Mama, can I stay home today?” Suki asked as soon as Haruka entered the kitchen. “I wanna hunt ghosts too!”

“Maybe next time, sweetie.” Haruka took Suki's hand and pulled her toward the door. “Right now you have to go to school.”

“But Mama!”

“No buts.”

Suki pouted but didn't fuss again. At the door to the kitchen, Haruka paused and smiled over her shoulder at Rin and Suguro.

“We should be back around five,” she said. “See you later!”

“Bye,” they said as one, and waited until they heard the front door close behind her before Rin let out a loud groan.

“Why do _we_ have to do the dishes?” he complained, turning to the kitchen table. There were so many dishes...how had they used that many?

Suguro grimaced. “I have the feeling she's going to be using us not only as exorcists but as hired help too.”

“Aw maaaann.”

“C'mon, enough whining.” Suguro rolled up his sleeves and started filling the sink with soap and hot water. “That won't get any of these dishes done.”

Rin's shoulders slumped in defeat. “Okay, okay!” he said, pulling out his hairclip and pulling his bangs out of his face.

Between the two of them, it should've only taken about twenty minutes to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. Instead, though, they tacked on at least another ten minutes when Rin initiated a soap bubble fight by playfully tossing some into Suguro's hair while the latter was drying a pan. Suguro yelled and immediately retaliated, and before long the floor, the counter, and the both of them were covered in suds and soaked with water. The battle ended when Rin slipped and instinctively grabbed the first thing he could reach, which just happened to be Suguro, and caused both of them to go crashing down onto the floor. Rin laughed and shoved at Suguro, who was half on top of him.

“Hey, get off!” He pushed – not _too_ hard – at Suguro's shoulders. “You're heavy.” He was still laughing, one hand rubbing the soap off of his face before it got in his eyes, as Suguro fell silent and picked himself up.

“Whoops, looks like we'll have to clean this up too.” Rin propped himself up on his elbows and grinned up at Suguro. His smiled faded, however, when he noticed the expression on Suguro's face.

“Look at this mess!” Suguro stood up, slipped again, and caught himself on the counter. “What were you _thinking_?!”

“We were just having fun!” Rin pushed himself to his feet and got up in Suguro's face. “What do you mean, what was _I_ thinking?! You were doing it too!” He was too pissed to notice how Suguro's cheeks darkened at the closeness, or how Suguro took an involuntary step back.

“You started it--”

“So what?!” Rin grabbed at a towel and violently dragged it over the soaked counter. “It's just soap and water! It'll dry easily!” Rin threw the wet towel at Suguro, who caught it in surprise. “What is _wrong_ with you lately? You've been acting weird all day!”

Suguro stared at the floor, saying nothing, and slowly shook his head.

“Nothing's wrong. I'm fine.”

“Well....good!” Thrown off his tirade by this reaction, Rin grabbed another dry towel and started wiping the front of the cabinets under the sink. “Then I guess we should clean this up.”

They mopped up their mess in strained silence. Rin glared at the floor as he wiped it dry, wanting to say something else, to yell, but not really knowing what. Suguro had said nothing was wrong, and if he was lying, it seemed pointless to try and force the truth out of him. Rin knew how stubborn Suguro was – if he pushed, Suguro would push back twice as hard, which would just lead to more arguments. And if Miss Abumi found out they were still fighting...Rin shuddered to think of what other household tasks she might come up with for them.

After they'd cleaned everything up and taken the dry towels to a hamper Rin found in the bathroom, Suguro led the way back upstairs to their room, each carrying their bags and supplies for the next few days. They put their stuff down inside and though neither was very happy about the sleeping situation, they managed to decide who would get which side. Thankfully, as Miss Abumi had said, the bed looked big enough for both of them without either having to sacrifice too much personal space.

“Okay, this is what we're gonna do,” Suguro said once all of that was out of the way. He pulled out one of his school books and started flipping through it. “We've got the run of the house, so we should sweep the place from top to bottom. Miss Abumi showed us the rooms where she and her daughter experience the most activity, but the Poltergeist may also be sticking to other places where they can't sense it.”

Rin yawned and sat on the edge of the bed. “You said we had to draw it out, right? How're we gonna do that?”

“Miss Abumi said most of the stuff happens in Suki's room,” Suguro replied, frowning. “It sounds like the spirit may be attached to her for some reason, so if we could use her--”

“Wait, hold on a second! We're not using that little girl as _bait_!”

Suguro's frown twisted into a grimace. “I don't want to either, but if the Poltergei is connected to her somehow, it'd be the easiest way--”

“There's no way in hell we're doing that!” Rin shot to his feet, fists clenched. “We'll just have to find some other way!”

Suguro looked like he wanted to argue further, but instead clenched his teeth and turned back to his book.

“Fine, we'll do something else,” he snapped. “But we won't have any guarantee it'll work, and we only have three days, just in case you'd _forgotten_ that little detail, Okumura!”

“Of course I didn't forget!” Rin plopped back down on the bed, stubbornly crossing his arms. “I won't use a kid as bait for an angry ghost, even if I fail,” he grumbled.

They sat in another tense silence, the only sound the rustle of pages as Suguro brushed up on Poltergeist lore. Meanwhile Rin sat on the opposite corner of the bed, fidgeting restlessly and clenching and unclenching his hand on his sword. A violent spirit that ripped apart rooms and seemed interested in a kid? He scowled unconsciously. He wanted to cut this thing in half for putting Suki in danger like that.

“Stop making that face.” Startled, Rin lifted his head to see Suguro looking at him. Suguro closed the book and set it on the nightstand before standing up.

“Come on. Let's check out the rest of the house.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just something i've had rattling around in my head for a little while; it kind of mixes the anime & manga canon so sorry about that. anyway none of the characters are mine obviously


	2. we should've watched more ghosthunters

They decided to start with the rooms Haruka had already shown them – the master bedroom, and Suki's room – and then hit the rest of the house, making sure to concentrate on the rooms Haruka hadn't brought them to yet. There wasn't much else to explore beyond what they'd already seen. There was one bathroom on the first floor, three bedrooms (including the guest room), a kitchen, a small dining room and a family room. Suguro also found a tiny attic, not much larger than a crawlspace under the roof. They spent quite a bit of time there as it was easily the creepiest room in the house, but after an hour of sitting in that dusty, hot, cramped space, neither had seen or felt anything out of the ordinary. Sweaty and irritated, they decided on another sweep of the bedrooms and still came up with nothing; Rin strained his ears as much as he could wherever they looked, but he didn't hear any more whispers.

“It _has_ to know we're here and what we're doing,” Suguro said aloud when they finally gave up and went back to their room. “I don't know why it hasn't tried anything on us.”

Rin lounged on the bed, hands crossed behind his head. “So we're gonna have to lure it out, right?”

“Seems like it.”

Rin sat up, fist clenched in front of him. “Alright! I'll just go shake him out of wherever he's hiding!”

“What! That won't work, dumbass!”

“Sure it will!”

“No it _won't_!” Suguro stopped himself, clenching his teeth and taking a deep breath to calm down. Rin scowled. He'd been hoping that, without Miss Abumi around, Suguro might actually start yelling at him like he usually did. Ever since the soap bubble thing that morning, Suguro had been quiet and detached, never giving Rin more than a few words in response. Just now was the most he'd sounded like himself all day and Rin had kind of been hoping it would last longer.

“If you go around wrecking the place looking for this thing Miss Abumi isn't going to be very happy.” Suguro sat at the desk in the corner of the room, facing away from Rin as he flipped through another of his schoolbooks.

“I know there's a way to draw it out,” he went on. “I just can't remember...” He reached the end of the book and closed it with a frustrated sigh.

“Okumura,” he said, back still turned as he dug through his duffel for yet another book. “You look through _Demons and Spirits for Beginners_ and I'll check _Spells for Summoning the Paranormal._ ” He pulled the two books from his bag, setting one on the desk in front of him.

“Okumura?”

Suguro turned and saw that, while he'd been talking, Rin had slumped back against the bed and was fast asleep, mouth wide open as he softly snored. A small vein bulged in his temple and twitched menacingly.

“Hey! Okumura!” Suguro chucked the second book at Rin, hitting him squarely on the nose. Rin jolted awake as blood started gushing from his nostrils.

“What the hell?!”

“No napping on the job!” Suguro yelled. “If you wanna get this thing without using Suki, then you have to help me figure out how!”

Rin clutched at his nose with one hand while the other scrambled at the box of tissues on the nightstand. “Fine, but you didn't have to hit me like that!” he shot back, though through the blood and his hand it sounded more like “Fibe, but you didn't have do hit be like dat!”

With two chunks of tissue stuffed up each nostril, Rin picked up the book Suguro had thrown at him and the two settled into silence as they scoured the text for any other means of drawing out a Poltergeist. Rin tried to subtly doze off a few times but never got more than a minute of peace before Suguro was yelling at him again (which was when he decided that maybe he _did_ like quiet Suguro better). They kept up this routine until there was a soft knock on the door and Haruka peered in with a smile.

“Hey, boys.” She opened the door fully and stood in the archway with her hands on her hips. “Studying hard?”

“Yeah.” Suguro set his latest book down and stifled a yawn. “Hasn't done much good, though.”

Haruka looked from one to the other, Suguro slouching over the desk while Rin rubbed at his eyes, trying to dispel his sleepiness.

“I guess it hasn't.”

“We know what we're going to do.” Suguro avoided looking at Rin, who straightened at the statement. “We're just trying to....explore all of our options.”

Haruka's eyes flicked to Rin, who was staring hard at Suguro. She nodded slowly.

“I see. Well, if you can afford to take a break, dinner's going to be ready in an hour or so, and I would appreciate some help in the kitchen.” Her tone and body language made it clear that her request was non-negotiable, so Rin and Suguro obediently put away the books they'd been reading and followed her out of the room.

“What did you mean, 'we know what we're going to do'?” Rin hissed as they washed their hands in the bathroom sink. “We didn't find anything in those books!”

“I know.” Suguro stood next to Rin at the sink, as far away as he could be while still close enough to get his hands under the spray. Rin figured he thought Rin might splash him with water again, and was severely tempted to do so. “I get why you don't want to, but unless we find another way, we _have_ to go with our original plan.”

“Like hell we do!” Rin shook his hands before vehemently drying them off. “We're _going_ to find another way.”

Once they were all washed up Haruka put them to work helping her cook dinner. She especially enjoyed Rin's help, as his cooking skills made it a lot easier on her, and in the end Rin did most of the cooking himself while Suguro set the table and Haruka alternated between relaxing and playing a singing game with Suki. When they'd all taken their seats and Rin started serving dinner, they found that whatever Haruka had planned on making had become a delicious-smelling beef sukiyaki.

“This isn't exactly what I had in mind,” Haruka said, amused, as she surveyed her bowl, “but I'll let it slide.” She smiled over at Rin, who grinned back.

The first half of the meal they spent listening to Suki talk about her day at school; she told Rin a harrowing tale about the class pet – a slimy toad – that escaped from its cage in the middle of class.

“We had to chase it all over the place!” she exclaimed, waving her arms around. Rind was beaming as he simultaneously listened and stuffed his face.

“Did you catch it?” he asked through a mouthful of beef; a look from Haruka made him swallow hurriedly.

“Yeah! It tried to run out but I jumped and grabbed it.”

“Awesome!” Rin stretched his arm across the table to give her a high five.

“You always have the most exciting adventures at school,” Haruka said, smiling.

Suki nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah!! But probably not as cool as Rin's.” She turned back to him, matching his expression. “Did you see her today?”

“Her?” Rin glanced at Haruka, who put a hand on Suki's arm.

“Who're you talking about, sweetie?”

Suki was still smiling, in contrast to the three confused faces staring at her. “The ghost!” she replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Did you see her?”

Suguro looked to Haruka, who said, “I thought the ghost was a he?”

“Oh no, he's different.” Suki wrinkled her nose and lowered her voice. “He's a bad man,” she whispered.

“Wait a minute.” Rin thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “You know, now that I think about it, the voice I heard earlier sounded like a woman's...”

Suguro whirled on him. “And you didn't see the need to mention that before now?”

“I forgot!”

“Voice?” Suguro and Rin froze, slowly turning toward Haruka, who was no longer smiling. “What voice?”

“Oh, I, uh, thought I heard a voice earlier.” Rin smiled and shrugged sheepishy. “I didn't hear what it said, just a voice.”

Haruka's tone was dangerous. “I see.”

“Mama, it's okay.” Haruka glanced down at Suki's now concerned expression. “She's good, she won't hurt anybody.”

“And the uh, voice I heard,” Rin added slowly, “It didn't sound threatening.” In fact, he thought, remembering the sudden whisper he'd heard, it had sounded more...desperate.

“Mm.” Haruka pursed her lips. “Either way, I don't like finding out that there's apparently _two_ spirits in my home.”

“You're not gonna make her leave, are you, Mama?” Suki asked desperately. “Please, she's my friend!”

“We'll see,” was all Haruka said, though it was clear to Rin that her mind was made up. He frowned down at his bowl as they fell silent and remained that way for the rest of the meal. He wondered what Suguro thought about all this; he probably felt the same way as Suki's mom. Rin's grip tightened on his chopsticks. He knew they had to exorcise the Poltergeist, but what if the other ghost was friendly? If she wasn't causing trouble, did she deserve to be cast out too?

They stayed quiet through the rest of their dinner, and when Haruka took Suki upstairs to prepare her for bed, Rin and Suguro cleaned the table and washed the dishes in silence. By thte time they finally went upstairs themselves Rin felt like he was about to burst from the tension. As soon as they made it back to their room he flopped on the bed and made faces at the ceiling.

“I know what you're thinking,” Suguro said gruffly. He'd perched on the corner of the bed farthest from Rin. “If Miss Abumi wants us to, we have to exorcise both spirits.”

“But _why_?” Rin threw his arms up, tail slipping free of his pants to flick irritably at nothing. “What if she's not doing anything bad?”

“It doesn't matter. This isn't our home, we don't get to decide what happens to it.”

Rin groaned and dragged his hands down his face. “You sound like Yukio.” With his eyes covered, Rin couldn't see the pained expression Suguro made.

“At least you listen to _him_.”

“What?” Rin sat up. “No I don't!”

“More than you listen to me!” Suguro scowled, struggling to keep his voice down. He jabbed a finger at Rin. “You should've told me the voice you heard was a woman's!”

“I didn't notice until Suki said something, okay!”

“ _Exactly_!” Suguro hissed. “You don't pay attention and when that gets you in trouble you think you can just pull out your sword and burn your way out of it! But you can't always just _do_ that, you have to think like an exorcist, and that includes trusting your teammates!"

“I know, you've told me that at _least_ a thousand times!”

“Well maybe if you'd _listen_ \--”

“Boys?” Both of their mouths snapped shut as they heard a light knock on the door.

“Are you decent?”

“Yeah, you can come in,” Suguro called. Rin sat up straighter.

Haruka didn't open the door all the way, instead cracking it just enough that she could lean inside.

“I just came to say good night.” She panned her gaze from one to the other and Rin felt a stab of shame; she'd probably heard them arguing again. “Try not to stay up late – breakfast will be bright and early.”

“Yes ma'am.”

“And keep it down, please. Suki's a light sleeper.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Haruka smiled as she closed the door behind her. “Good night.”

Once she was gone, Suguro let out a breath.

“She reminds me of my mother,” he said, sighing again. “It almost feels like I'm home.”

“Mm.”

Suguro winced. “Oh yeah. Sorry.”

“It's fine.” Rin shrugged and recovered with a smirk. “The old man got like that sometimes too. He was just a lot more shouty about it.”

Suguro chuckled quietly. “I'd almost prefer shouting. My mom just kind of _looks_ at you – and you know you're a goner.”

Rin thought back to Kyoto and meeting Suguro's mom. He could definitely picture her giving a stinkeye as powerful as Miss Abumi's.

“She seemed like a great lady though.”

“Yeah.” Suguro looked down at his hands. “It's getting kind of late. We should study some before we go to bed.”

Rin groaned and took the book Suguro offered him. The two of them flipped through the rest of the books Suguro had brought for the next few hours, before Suguro finally relented and said that they could call it quits and go to bed.

Rin tossed his book aside and grabbed his pajamas. He was halfway through pulling his shirt off when Suguro said loudly, “Oi! Wait 'til I leave the room!”

“Dude, shut up!” Rin slid his shirt the rest of the way off his shoulders. “You're gonna wake them up. And what's the matter? We're both guys.”

“Yeah, so?!” Suguro snapped, quieter than before. His face was beet red. “Doesn't mean I wanna see you in your underwear!”

“Then don't look!” Rin frowned; something about the expression on Suguro's face was making his cheeks heat up, too. “Are you getting sick? Your face is really red.”

“No, I'm fine.” Suguro looked away and gathered up his own clothes. “I'm gonna change in the bathroom.” Rin watched, confused, as Suguro walked stiffly out of the room. Maybe he was one of those weirdos who didn't like getting changed in front of others, Rin thought. He guessed it hadn't really come up before or he would've noticed sooner. Sighing, he continued stripping off his school clothes before pulling on his sleepwear. Whatever was wrong with Suguro, he thought, it wasn't _his_ problem.

By the time Suguro came back, Rin was comfortably sprawled on the same side of the bed he'd been laying on all day. Suguro glanced over at him and scowled.

“Don't think you get all that room to yourself.”

“What?” Rin turned to look at the empty half of the bed. “You've got plenty of room!”

“Move over.” Suguro dumped his day clothes on his duffel, unconsciously tugging at the comfy lounge shorts he used for pajamas.

Rin hmphed. “Fine, princess. I'll give you your space.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to not call me that!”

Rin grinned and moved over without another word, freeing up more room for Suguro. He still seemed irritated, though, and when he got on the bed he stuck as close to the edge as he possibly could.

“Just because I have fangs doesn't mean I bite,” Rin said, slightly offended.

Suguro grunted and leaned over to turn off the lamp. “Shut up and go to sleep.”

With the lights out it didn't take Rin long to pass out; it'd been kind of along day and he was exhausted. As he slipped further into unconsciousness he felt his lip quirk as it occurred to him that he'd forgotten to tell Suguro about how he moved around a lot in his sleep. _Oh well_ , he decided groggily. _He'll be fine_.

 


	3. shit gets serious

When Rin woke up the room was still pitch black; he groaned and rolled over, prepared to go back to sleep, when his brain registered the persistent buzzing noise that had woken him up in the first place. He threw out an arm and groped at the nightstand until he found his phone, groaning again when he noticed the digital clock read 2:35 a.m.

“Do you know what time it is?” he whined as soon as he answered, then started as he remembered that Suguro was sleeping next to him and he should probably try to stay quiet. He glanced over at Suguro's side of the bed, hoping he hadn't woken him, and noticed that Suguro was gone.

 _Probably in the bathroom_ , he thought.

“What? It's not that late.” Shura's voice assaulted his ears, bringing him back to why he was awake right now. “If you're slacking it must be 'cause you finished your mission already, right?”

“It's two o'clock in the morning!”

“Really?” There was a pause. “Huh. I guess it is.”

Rin yawned. “What d'you want?”

“I'm supposed to check in on ya once a day, so I'm checking in.”

“Doesn't this count as tomorrow?”

“Shut it!” He could easily imagine the annoyed face Shura would be making on the other end of the line. “Just tell me what's going on with your mission.”

“Well.” Rin sat up, putting a pillow against the headboard to lean on. “There's two ghosts, a guy and a girl. I think the guy's a Poltergeist; we just gotta figure out how to lure him out, and then I think Suguro's got one of his chants that'll get rid of it.”

“A Poltergeist, huh? Should be a piece of cake,” Shura said. “They like to attach themselves to a specific room or person. If you can find out who or where, you can call it out easy.”

“But we can't do that!” Rin insisted. “I think it's attached to a little girl. We can't use her as bait!”

“You wouldn't be! You gotta be in the same room as her for it to work, so she'd be perfectly safe, right?”

Rin blinked. “Yeah?”

“Hell yeah! And once you get it to come out you can get her outta harm's way.”

“That still kinda sounds like using her as bait...”

“Nah, it's fine!” Shura paused. “Though maybe you should do it when the little girl's parents aren't around, huh?”

Rin imagined running this plan across Miss Abumi. “Yeah, definitely. Though it may be harder than it sounds.”

“I'm sure you'll figure it out.” Shura yawned. “I'm goin' to bed. Sweet dreams, kid!”

Rin set the phone back on the nightstand after she hung up, stretching and letting loose another yawn of his own. He looked over at Suguro's side again, idly wondering when Suguro would be back. He supposed it didn't really matter; Suguro had been quiet enough getting out of bed not to wake Rin (which wasn't hard, since Rin was a ridiculously heavy sleeper) that he probably wouldn't even notice when Suguro came back. Grabbing the pillow he'd been using as a backrest, Rin settled back down. He was also very good at going back to sleep easily, so even though Shura had woken him up in the middle of the night it shouldn't be long before he was back in dreamland. Giving one last stretch, he sighed and closed his eyes.

_Rin._

Rin's eyes snapped open. His heart pounded in his ears as he waited, wondering what that had been, if he'd imagined it-

_Rin._

No, there it was again, a whisper in his ear that had the hair on the back of his neck standing straight up. He shot out of bed, automatically reaching for the sword he'd tucked into his stuff, fingers tightening around the hilt as he scanned the room for the source of the voice.

_Rin. Come downstairs._

He was out the door before he even thought about it. The voice sounded weaker, as if it were moving away, and he intended to follow it. The woman – because that's who it was, he recognized that feminine whisper from earlier – might be able to help him with the Poltergeist, and he didn't intend to let this opportunity get away from him.

Plus, he really wanted to know why she was creepily whispering at him when he was trying to get some sleep.

There were no more whispers as he padded across the landing and down the stairs. When he passed the bathroom on the first floor, he noticed that the door was closed and the light was on; so he was right about where Suguro had gone. He didn't know where the voice wanted him to go, but once he got to the family room he stopped.

“Rin Okumura.” He whipped around and there in the archway stood a woman in a long white night gown. He squinted at her.

“You look familiar.”

The spirit smiled sadly. “My name is Aimi Abumi. I'm Haruka's sister.”

Rin's eyes widened. “Oh.”

Aimi walked toward him, though her feet didn't completely touch the ground; she seemed to be hovering an inch or two above the floor. This created a strange gliding effect that had goosebumps popping up on Rin's arms.

“So you're the woman Suki was talking about,” he said when she stopped in front of him.

“Yes. I died when Suki was still very young, and when I realized I was still in the land of the living...” Aimi sighed, which was weird to watch, considering she wasn't breathing. “I've been watching over her ever since. My sister thought Suki had an imaginary friend, like most children do, and Suki promised not to say anything about what I really was.”

“Why not?” Noticing that his knees were shaking, Rin sat down on the nearest chair. “Why wouldn't you want your sister to know?”

“It would just upset her.”

“And what about Suki? Does she know you're her aunt?”

Aimi shook her head. “No. I decided I wouldn't tell her, so she just thinks I'm a nice ghost lady.” She smiled again, this time with a hint of fondness. “Like a fairy godmother.”

“But what about the guy Suki mentioned?”

Her expression darkened. “When Haruka and Yuu, her husband, moved here last year, I came with them. He was already here....he used to live in this house a long time ago.” She glanced around quickly, fearfully, like a small animal checking for predators. Rin felt a surge of anger that burned away his fear.

“He's lonely, and he wants me to stay with him,” she continued quietly. “But he's a cruel, terrible man...he's always threatening Suki, telling me he'll hurt her if I don't stay with him.”

“Don't worry, we're gonna get rid of him for you!” Rin shot to his feet, hands clutching his sword. “We know how to kick that asshole out!”

“Shhh!” Aimi looked around in alarm. “Keep your voice down!”

“Sorry.” Rin scowled guiltily. “But I mean it. We'll take care of him for you!”

“I appreciate that, I do, but..” She chewed her lip. “Be careful. He's very strong, and he knows why you're here. I'm afraid he's going to try something soon, something to hurt you; that's why I wanted to talk to you--”

They heard a sound then, like a low, deep moan, almost what a settling house would sound like but much more ominous. Aimi started.

“I have to go,” she whispered. Her body started to fade away, disappearing before Rin's eyes. “Please, be careful.”

He was left alone in the family room, and only then did he notice how dark and creepy it was. He told himself he wasn't afraid as he hurried out of the room and back toward the stairs.

When he passed the bathroom the door opened and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Geez!” he yelped, putting a hand to his racing heart as he turned to Suguro, who was standing in the open doorway. “Warn a guy!” Suguro just stared at him, rooted to the spot with his mouth hanging open.

“Okumura? What are you—what're _you_ doing down here?”

“I just talked to one of the ghosts.” The words tumbled out, his voice still shaky. “I have to tell you--”

“Go back upstairs!” Suguro snapped. Rin flinched unconsciously.

“But I just--”

“Go!” The viciousness in his tone shocked Rin into silence. He knew they fought a lot, but this attitude – it was different. Even with just the light from the bathroom Rin could see that Suguro's face was beet red with what he assumed to be rage – but why? What was he so mad about?

Rin put his hands up, palms out. “Okay, okay, I'm going.” He turned back toward the stairs, too exhausted and shaken from the night's events to bother arguing. He heard Suguro walking behind him as he went back upstairs, and he really wished he had the energy to whip around and completely flip out on Suguro. He was still coming down from the adrenaline of Aimi Abumi's visit, and with the added confusion and hurt from Suguro's behavior, he was stretched almost to the breaking point.

He held it in, though, and once they got back to the guest room he flopped down on his side of the bed and turned his back to Suguro without a word. He heard Suguro carefully climb onto the bed beside him, keeping as close to the far edge as he could, before Rin closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.

Rin woke up to someone shaking his shoulders and calling his name. He groaned and shoved at them, rolling away and preparing to fall asleep again.

“Okumura!” This time his assailant punched him hard in the shoulder.

“Ow!” Rin turned back and shot a death glare at Suguro, who was standing, fully dressed, next to the bed. “What was that for?”

“Get up! It's after eight!”

Rin groaned again. “That's way too early. Let me sleep in.”

“And hear you whine all morning cuz you missed breakfast?” Suguro snorted. “As if.”

Rin groggily sat up, stretching and rubbing his eyes. Suguro moved over as Rin slowly pushed himself out of bed, grumbling under his breath the whole time.

“Oh, and about last night...” Rin glanced up at Suguro, who was blushing lightly. “Sorry for snapping at you. You just, uh—startled me.”

“Oh.” Rin shrugged and covered a yawn. “It's okay. I was pretty out of it too.” He blinked suddenly. “Oh yeah, I meant to tell you about that!”

“About what?"

“I talked to one of the ghosts last night.” Rin started taking off his shirt. His back was to Suguro so he didn't see the anguished expression on Suguro's face before Suguro closed his eyes.

“You did?” Suguro said. His voice sounded a little strange, and Rin frowned.

“Yeah. Are you sure you're not coming down with a cold?”

“Positive. Tell me what happened.”

“Right! Well, the lady ghost is Suki's aunt. She's not evil at all.” Rin pulled off his sleep pants next and grabbed fresh clothes for the day. “She said that the guy is, though. He's been threatening Suki so her aunt will stay with him. And she said she thinks he's gonna do something bad to us really soon for tryin' to get rid of him.”

Suguro nodded thoughtfully. “Then we'd better start preparing for that.”

“Don't worry about it.” Rin finished dressing and turned around, teeth bared in a broad smirk. “If he tries anything I'll kick his ass!”

Suguro sighed, exasperated. “Don't get so cocky! We need to come up with a plan.”

They made their way downstairs and after brushing their teeth and washing their hands (they showed up at first without doing either, so were promptly sent into the bathroom) helped Haruka set the table for breakfast.

“Since it's a Saturday, Suki has no school,” Haruka said as she set out eggs and pancakes. “Unfortunately, I have to go into work for a few hours. Usually I'd call the babysitter, but I don't want to get anyone else involved in this ghost mess.” She looked at them both. “And since you two are here anyway....”

Suguro and Rin exchanged glances. They needed Suki's help to draw out the Poltergeist, and while they'd been washing their hands they'd tried to think of a way to keep Miss Abumi occupied while they put her daughter in danger. And now it looked like they didn't have to worry about it...it was almost too good to be true.

“Sure, we can do that!” Rin replied quickly. He grinned at Suki. “We can hang out and play all day. How's that sound?”

“Awesome!” Suki beamed. “Will you teach me how to hunt ghosts?”

Rin's eyes flicked to Haruka. “Ha, we'll see.”

“Yes!”

After they'd finished breakfast and cleaned everything up, Haruka bent down to give Suki a big hug and kiss.

“I'll be home around three, okay?”

“Okay!” Suki backed away and immediately grabbed Rin's hand. “We're gonna have a lot of fun so don't worry!”

Haruka smiled. “I won't.” She straightened and looked at Rin and Suguro. Her smile became subtly threatening; both felt a chill run down their spines.

“Take care of her,” was all she said, before she gave a little wave goodbye and stepped out the front door.

“You know,” Rin said aloud, once she'd gone, “Your mom is kind of scary.”

Suki giggled. “Yeah. Now come on! Let's play!”

Her room was just as cluttered as it had been yesterday, but somehow all of the mess had been rearranged overnight, like one hurricane had passed through only to be quickly followed by another. It reminded Rin a lot of his own room growing up. Suki had the three of them sitting on the floor in a triangle, and in the middle she dumped all sorts of toys, from dolls to racing cars to stuffed animals to wind-up robots. She handed a tough-looking knight doll to Rin, a blonde princess in a pink gown to Suguro, and kept a plush purple dragon for herself.

“Hey, Suki,” Suguro asked, turning over his doll. “Why'd you give me the princess?”

“I heard Rin call you a princess so I thought you'd like her best!” Suki grinned. Rin had to hide his snort behind his hands while Suguro shot him a glare.

“I think I want a different doll, if that's okay.”

“But Suguro!” Rin was fighting back laughter. “You both are so pretty, it's a perfect match!”

Suguro's face reddened and he looked about ready to chuck the doll at Rin when Suki intervened.

“But you have to be the princess!” Suki insisted. “She has to save the knight from the dragon. She's the hero!” 

Suguro smirked at Rin, whose grin had disappeared.

“Well, in that case, I'll be the princess.”

“But shouldn't the knight be saving the princess?” Rin said.

Suki shook her head. “Uh-uh. In my story, the princess saves the knight.” She crossed her arms. “And if you don't stop we won't play at all!”

Rin and Suguro exchanged looks, both thinking the same thing – she already sounded so much like her mother.

While they played, Suguro using his princess to defeat the dastardly dragon and save the poor knight, Rin was able to forget about the Poltergeist for a little while. Eventually, though, Suguro caught his eye and gave him a meaningful look, and Rin reluctantly put the knight down. He wanted to kick this ghost's ass but at the same time he was worried about Suki. Her mother had trusted them so easily; was it really okay for them to take advantage of that?

“You're not gonna play with me anymore?” Suki asked as Rin and Suguro stood up.

Rin smiled reassuringly. “'Course we'll still play with you! We just gotta get rid of the bad man first.”

“Oh, okay!” Suki nodded and jumped up, face set in determination. It would've been funny if Rin wasn't so nervous.

“So, how do we do this?” Rin looked to Suguro, who had produced a book seemingly out of nowhere. “Is there some kind of summoning Sutra or something?”

“No. As far as I can tell, we just have to be near whatever the Poltergeist is attached to and then call for it.”

“That's it?” Rin stepped closer to Suki automatically, bringing his hands to his mouth a taking a deep breath.

“Oi! Poltergeist! Get out here so I can kick yer ass!”

Suguro blanched. “What the hell d'you think you're doing?!”

“You said I just had to call him-!”

“Not like _that_!”

Suki's eyes flicked between them, one hand covering her mouth.

“You said a bad word!”

They were interrupted when one of Suki's heavier plastic toys came flying in their direction. Suguro yelled Rin's name as Rin immediately jumped forward and smacked it out of the air. It hit the floor and smashed into pieces; Suki screamed. The temperature in the room plummeted. In the corner across from them the air shimmered for a moment, the figure of a man slowly appearing. It was little more than a blurry, black mass, but they still could tell when he looked straight at them; Rin felt a cold shock of fear.

But when he felt Suki cling to his leg the fear passed and Rin took a defensive stance in front of her.

“Suki,” Rin said, glancing back at her, “You have to run, okay? Run downstairs and wait for us to come get you. Do you understand?”

She stared up at him, eyes wide, then nodded slowly. Rin beamed.

“Good. And don't worry, we'll be down there before you know it!” He shifted so that she would let go of his leg and gripped the hilt of his sword.

“Get ready!”

“Okumura!” Rin looked to Suguro, who was standing a few feet away, prayer beads in hand. “Don't use your flames!”

Rin gritted his teeth; he'd almost forgotten. “I know that!”

“Just making sure!”

The Poltergeist still hadn't said anything, hadn't done anything, but just then it looked straight at Rin and started moving toward him. Its movement was even scarier than Aimi's; the Poltergeist almost stuttered forward, form blurring in and out of focus. And it was fast, too. Rin's fist tightened unconsciously around his sword.

“Run, Suki!”

She bolted toward the door as Rin shot forward. He could hear Suguro starting up a chant behind him, but it faded to nothing as he focused solely on the shuddering, ethereal form before him. He let out a yell as he drove his fist into that cruel ghastly face.

And missed completely.

The Poltergeist disappeared right when the punch would have connected; Rin heard the door slam and Suki scream as he spun around. Suki had almost escaped when the door shut on its own. She was pulling desperately at the handle, but it was clear that they were trapped inside her room. He locked eyes with Suguro, who was still cycling through chants, and got a look that plainly said, “I _told_ you you can't punch a ghost!”

“Suki, stay right there!” Ignoring Suguro, Rin ran toward her. He'd almost reached her when an unseen forced slammed into his abdomen and sent him flying backwards.

“Rin!” Suki was crying, and she let out a sob when the Poltergeist reappeared in front of her.

He faced Rin, and spoke in a voice that had the hairs on his neck standing straight up. “What was all that talk about kicking my ass, Rin Okumura?” The spirit sneered; it made his features even more unsettling.

Rin snarled. “C'mere and I will!” The Poltergeist ignored him, instead turning to face Suki, who was still cowering by the door. Rin yelled her name and burst forward, even though he knew that he'd be too late, if anything happened he was too far away to save her...

There was an earsplitting crack and Rin felt a shock wave hit him, throwing him back again. He landed hard on his butt, and when he looked up he saw that Aimi was standing between Suki and the Poltergeist, arms held out as she blocked her niece with her body.

“I won't let you touch her,” she hissed.

The Poltergeist shuddered angrily. “I told you not to get involved!” He raised his hand and Rin's vision went red. He picked himself up, not registering that Aimi was already moving to block the blow, or that she could probably fend for herself – Rin was already running again, past Suguro (who was still changint), past the shattered pieces of Suki's dollhouse. He started drawing his sword without even thinking. He thought he heard someone, maybe Suguro, telling him to stop, though it was too late, his flames were manifesting--

“ _BACK. OFF!_ ”

The Poltergeist flung his arm at Rin, faster than his eye could follow, and he barely registered an ominously loud _crack_ before something solid hit him from behind and his world went black.

 


	4. going out with a bang

Rin was only out for a second, but when he opened his eyes everything was drastically different. He was lying on his back under a pile of rubble and Suguro, who was pinning him to the floor. Rin's back and head throbbed but when he saw the twisted grimace on Suguro's face he forgot all about it.

“Suguro!” Rin tried to move but that shifted the boy on top of him, who let out a small pained yelp. Rin stayed absolutely still after that. “What did you do?!”

“The ceiling...collapsed,” Suguro replied. He was holding himself over Rin by his forearms; Rin could see them shaking with the effort. “You could've been...crushed.”

“ _I_ would've _healed_! You're just a human, you could be seriously hurt, even dying--”

“Keep...telling you.” Suguro's breathing was labored. “You can't...do everything by yourself.”

Rin felt tears pool in the corners of his eyes. If he hadn't been so angry (and, to be honest, terrified) he would've been embarrassed. Instead, he hardly noticed.

“ _This_ I could do by myself. You can't recover from an injury this bad like I can!” He almost grabbed Suguro and shook him. “Why would you do something so _stupid_!”

“You would've done the same thing.” Suguro laughed, then grimaced. “And anyway, it should be...obvious. Even to you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

This was not the time for cryptic statements, yet Suguro didn't elaborate, instead giving a small, infuriating smile. And then, before Rin could continue yelling, Suguro leaned in and kissed him.

Rin's eyes widened. Suguro's lips were dry, and a little cracked; they trembled against his own, probably for the same reason the rest of Suguro was trembling. For a second Rin forgot what he was so mad about. His eyes slid closed and he started to return it but then Suguro was pulling away and grunting in pain and Rin remembered that, wait a minute, he was absolutely _furious_ with Suguro.

“Don't think that makes this okay,” Rin snapped. Suguro winced, looking hurt and confused at this response to his confession, but Rin didn't have time to feel guilty, or to acknowledge the guilt he was already harboring over Suguro doing this to himself because of Rin in the first place. The longer they were trapped under this rubble, the worse Suguro's injuries became; he could tell that much by the way Suguro's arms had begun to shake harder, and how Suguro could no longer hide the pain in his expression. Rin needed to get them out of this situation, and then he needed to sock that ghost guy right in the jaw.

“We'll talk later,” Rin hissed to Suguro, who still looked kind of upset. “And...sorry about this.”

Suguro blinked. “What--”

Bracing himself against the floor, Rin laid his palms flat against the section of ceiling pinning them and, with a mighty heave, shoved the entire thing off of Suguro's back. It was lighter than he expected, so hopefully Suguro wasn't hurt as badly as Rin had initially thought. When he carefully wrapped an arm around Suguro's back (to a surprised hiss of pain from Suguro) he didn't feel any blood or bones sticking out. So there was that, at least.

Gingerly, Rin rolled Suguro off of him and onto his side. Suguro bit his lip to keep from crying out and Rin felt some of the guilt he'd been trying to ignore jolt through him. But he still didn't have time to dwell on it. Standing up, he flicked his sword partway out of its sheath, blue flames erupting around him. He heard Suguro cough.

“You can't--”

“You stay there.” Rin glanced down at Suguro over his shoulder and shot him a grin. “I'll take it from here.”

Rin turned his attention to Suki, Aimi and the Poltergeist, who didn't appear to have moved (or noticed that little drama, fortunately). Aimi and the Poltergeist were staring at each other, the air around them thick and pulsing with energy; they looked to be in the middle of some kind of fight, though what they were doing he had no idea. He'd probably fallen asleep during that lecture. The Poltergeist seemed distracted enough that Rin had the perfect opening.

Or he did, anyway, until he charged at the Poltergeist while yelling at the top of his lungs.

It was enough warning for Rin to get thrown back again by the Poltergeist's power. He landed hard and skidded past Suguro.

“Rin!” He dimly heard Suki calling his name as he got back up, shaking his head and ignoring the new pains shooting through his body. He growled and prepared to charge again.

“Okumura, wait!” Rin glanced, annoyed, at Suguro. “Don't...glare at me,” Suguro huffed. “You can't just charge in like that. You need....a plan.”

“We don't have _time_ for that!” Rin shot back. Without another word he sprinted forward again, sword held above his head and flames blazing, and again he was thrown back, this time hitting the wall adjacent to where the door was. Suki screamed.

Rin struggled to his feet. “Don't worry, Suki!” he called. “I'm fine!”

“You're not gonna be if you keep this up!” Suguro shouted from the floor, then collapsed back, moaning in pain.

“Shut up, Suguro, I know what I'm doing--”

“Rin.” Startled, he turned his attention to Aimi. Though she was still standing in front of the Poltergeist and still fighting him, she was looking straight at Rin. Her form was flickering like a camera going in and out of focus; her expression was tense.

“I can give you an opening,” she said. It didn't look like she spoke very loudly but he could still hear her, clear as day, over the din of her ghostly battle. The Poltergeist hissed like a snake and Aimi's flickering worsened. She gritted her teeth and after a second looked more solid again.

“I can do it, but you have to promise me you'll beat him. Use your flames and burn him to nothingness. I can only give you one chance so promise me you won't hesitate.”

Rin sucked in a breath. “But what about you?”

“Don't worry about me.” She smiled sadly, then, in a burst of movement, shot forward and grabbed hold of the Poltergeist. Both of them flickered violently and the floor cracked beneath them while Suki cowered by the door.

“Now!” Aimi shouted above the howling, whipping wind that had come up around them, tearing at Rin's clothing and hair, threatening to extinguish his flames. He brought up an arm to protect himself from the toys and clothes that were being tossed around the room. “You have to do it now!”

And so he ran forward, relying on his instinctive impulsiveness to carry his feet while his mind was elsewhere. He tried to concentrate. He could feel the self-doubt rising in him, just as it had when they'd fought the Impure King. But he'd done it then; he'd controlled his flames and burned away the miasma endangering his friends without hurting anyone. He could do it again. _He could control his flames_. His grip tightened on his sword as he brought it up over his head, repeating that to himself like a mantra as he jumped and brought it down, down through the blackness that was the Poltergeist, blue flames devouring every piece of dark spirit they touched.

The Poltergeist screamed as the flames consumed it, and soon there was nothing left but a smoking, smelly pile of ash on the floor. Rin's feet hit the ground with a loud thud in the suddenly silent room. He kept his sword out just in case, grip so tight on the hilt that his pale knuckles turned white, and was so on edge that he jumped when Suki ran over and latched onto him. He quickly sheathed his sword as she cried into his shirt. Her tears were soaking through the material; he barely noticed.

“Hey, hey, it's okay, he's gone now.” Rin crouched down and hugged her, soothingly stroking her hair. He thought briefly of how a couple months ago the same situation would've made him uncomfortable, and how a certain ghost boy had changed that. He was glad, because now he knew how to hold Suki until her sobs started to fade away.

Rin felt a soft touch on his shoulder and looked up, surprised, to see Aimi hovering over him. She looked more solid than before when she'd been battling the Poltergeist, though the edges of her seemed darker, as if singed. Rin cringed.

“It's finally over,” Aimi was saying. “I've suffered under that man for years and now it's finally over.” She smiled at him and at Suki, eyes shining with unshed tears. Suki removed her face from Rin's chest as Aimi crouched down and held out her arms; Suki immediately moved into them, burying her face in Aimi's shoulder instead. Rin wondered how it felt to be hugged by a ghost.

“Your friend is badly injured,” Aimi reminded him gently. Rin blinked a few times until her words hit him.

“Shit!” He jumped to his feet and ran to where Suguro was still lying on the floor, face contorted with a mix of pain and irritation.

“I was wondering...when you'd remember me,” he said grumpily.

“Don't forget you did this to _yourself_.” Rin kneeled next to Suguro, scowling as he looked the other boy over. He still didn't see any blood or obvious swelling, but he was no doctor. He moved around and gingerly touched Suguro's back, his hand jerking away as though burned when Suguro yelped.

“Don't touch that, it _hurts_!”

“I've gotta find out if you broke anything!” Rin went to touch him again, hesitated, flexed his fingers, and decided against it.

“Okay, fine, but we still gotta move you and clean up this mess before Miss Abumi comes home--”

They all froze as they heard a knock on the door. Aimi faded into nothingness while three pairs of eyes turned as one as the door opened and Miss Abumi, three sea salt ice cream bars in hand, appeared in the doorway. Her mouth dropped and her gaze shot from her tear-stricken daughter to Rin and Suguro to the pile of rubble. The three ice cream bars hit the floor with an audible _splat_.

She yelled for ten minutes straight before she let the boys get a word in edgewise, and that was only because she noticed Suguro was seriously injured and needed medical attention. It was lucky that Aimi had disappeared before Miss Abumi saw her, but that meant she walked in on Suki standing alone and crying while Suguro and Rin sat amongst the wreckage of what had once been most of the ceiling. Needless to say, this did not help her feelings toward them, or the fact that they'd broken her trust. She was so angry, in fact, that even when they tried to explain what happened in the car on the way to the hospital, she refused to listen, even though Suki had recovered enough by then to corroborate their story. It was only when she was sitting with Suki and Rin in the waiting room of the nearest hospital while Suguro was patched up that Haruka finally addressed Rin with something approaching a normal tone.

“So the Poltergeist is gone, correct?” she asked evenly. Suki was curled up in her lap sleeping off the day's excitement. Rin nodded.

“Yeah. We, uh, banished it with a Sutra.”

“Mm.” Haruka pursed her lips, then took a deep breath.

“I _am_ grateful to you,” she began, “for ridding my home of this menace. I'll even forgive the damage to Suki's bedroom; from what you two told me, there was nothing you could have done to prevent it. But.” And here she looked him dead in the eye with a gaze so cold he swore he could feel his soul freeze. “You put my child in danger when I trusted her to your care. You can stay tonight and rest but I want you out of my house by 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. Understood?”

Rin nodded again, wide-eyed, and when she didn't look away he stammered, “Y-Yes ma'am.”

“Good.” She watched him a moment longer, then sighed and even softened into a small (albeit tight) smile.

“Relax. You did a good job, considering. And that's what I'll tell Mephisto.”

They waited in the waiting room for hours, Rin growing more bored and fidgety as time passed until finally Suguro came out, walking slowly but not grimacing quite as much as before.

“I'm good to leave,” he said as the two of them stood to meet him, Haruka holding the still-sleeping Suki. “Worst I got is a pair of bruised ribs, and the rest's just bad enough that I'll be sore for about a week.” He produced a bottle of pills and shook it. “For that I got these.”

“I'm glad to hear that you're not too badly injured,” Haruka said. “Let's get home so you can rest.”

During the ride back Suguro kept glancing over at Rin, silently asking what had happened to have Miss Abumi's attitude change so drastically. Rin could only shrug; he didn't really get it, either. Eventually the pain pills put Suguro to sleep and the car was silently until they got back to Miss Abumi's house. She made them a quick dinner (which Suguro barely ate; he was too groggy from the pills) but luckily by this time Suki was recovered from the afternoon and she helped ease some of the awkward tension by walking Rin through her many doll adventure scenarios. After dinner they played through a few of them in the living room while Suguro napped on the couch. When Suki's bedtime came everyone else decided to retire to their rooms as well (Rin deciding for Suguro, who he had to shake for five minutes before the guy finally woke up).

As the two of them headed upstairs, Rin in front and Suguro behind, Rin tried to ignore the squirming in his gut that grew worse with each step. Since that afternoon there'd been a friction between the two of them, one that was easier to ignore around other people. But now...now they were going to be alone in a room sharing the same bed. He was banking on Suguro's pills immediately knocking him out again so that Rin wouldn't have to deal with it. Even still, he wasn't sure he'd get much sleep. He had a lot to think about.

They took turns going to the bathroom to change without a word. Rin went first, and when he came back he sprawled on the bed on his back while Suguro left. When he returned Rin felt a twinge of guilt when he saw that Suguro hadn't been able to change his shirt. It was probably too painful, too troublesome, and, by Suguro's own admission, all Rin's fault.

Rin stayed silent while Suguro turned off the light and laid down. They stayed that way for a while, in silence, each listening to the other's breathing for signs that they'd fallen asleep. But neither did, and eventually Rin, to whom patience was a foreign word, couldn't take it anymore.

“Go to sleep!” he hissed in the darkness. “Shouldn't you be passed out on those pain meds?”

He heard Suguro shift, and then nothing for a moment, before Suguro irritably replied, “I'd like to be but instead I'm wide awake.”

“Great, that's just _great_.” Rin scowled at nothing. “Why did you have to go and ruin everything today?”

“Are you serious?! I almost got my ribs broken for you!”

“And you didn't have to!” Rin snapped back, quietly. He was trying to keep his voice down so they didn't wake Haruka and suffer another round of shouting. “I didn't ask you to do that, I would've been _fine_ but then you did and you _kissed_ me and now everything's weird.” Rin made a face at nothing. “Even weirder than it has been lately.”

Suguro slowly let out a breath through his nose. Rin could imagine his expression – cheeks flushed, mouth set in a hard line, his bottom lip protruding slightly in a pout he'd never acknowledge.

“I didn't want it to happen that way,” he said finally.

“Then why did it? You could've just said something before!”

Suguro gave a quiet, sharp laugh; he was close enough that Rin felt the wince that followed it. “I had a ceiling fall on me; I might've thought for a second that I was gonna die and that I should...you know...” He huffed. “I was caught up in the moment!”

When Rin only continued to glare into darkness Suguro blurted, “I screwed up, okay? Let's just pretend it didn't happen. I know that you like Moriyama anyway, so it doesn't matter.”

Normally he would have laughed at Suguro for sulking but this time the statement jolted through him. His first reaction was surprise that anyone had noticed (but of course they did, he realized now, they're your friends you have real _friends_ now and that's what friends do). His second was guilt, guilt that built on top of what he already felt about Suguro's injury, creating a weight that pressed down on his chest until he could barely breathe. Because he did like Shiemi, he liked her a lot. But there was something else too. Rin noticed things, though he was no genius, and he noticed how Shiemi's feelings toward him were much different than his for her, more familial, sister-like. So it worked out that he was also good at denial – it had served him well during his childhood – and therefore it was easy to feign ignorance. To fall so deeply into his roll as the oblivious failure that he even started to believe it himself.

But he couldn't avoid the truth forever. He couldn't avoid knowing that, eventually, he had to get over Shiemi. Just like he couldn't perpetually avoid the light backflips his stomach would perform when he talked to Suguro, when they argued, when they finally started getting along. Or how those backflips had grown into full-on somersaults that he'd ignored instinctively, too caught up in chasing Shiemi and all of the other shit he'd been dealing with lately to acknowledge more than one crush at a time.

Rin swallowed. He didn't like the way things were going at all. He hated that he'd put someone in danger because he was too slow to have resolved this earlier. The right course of action would be to apologize and talk through his own feelings with Suguro. Unfortunately though he was still impulsive to a fault and instead of treating this situation with the care it deserved, he decided to follow through with the first thing that popped into his head.

Suguro gave an annoyed grunt as he felt Rin's fingers grope his face in the darkness. It was quickly followed by a “What the hell are you doing?” when Rin's hand found purchase on his cheek and tilted his head, and finally he gave a quiet gasp of surprise when he felt a pair of warm lips against his own.

Suguro jerked his head back, hissing in pain. “Wha—What are you _doing_?!”

They were still close enough that Rin felt Suguro's warm, erratic breath on his face. It was intoxicating.

“You can like more than one person at a time, you know,” was all he said.

When Rin kissed him a second time Suguro didn't pull away, though he was still tense, still wary that something was off. It was when Rin slid a hand onto the back of his neck and pressed closer that Suguro gave in, lips parting beneath Rin's, tongue slipping out to taste Rin's mouth and Rin's tongue and the kiss deepened, their breathing coming more rapidly as they pushed up against each other, hands exploring, groping, fumbling in the darkness at the bottoms of shirts and the zippers of their pants, teenage hormones unleashed and acting on several months worth of sexual tension--

Suguro made a soft sound of pleasure in the back of his throat and any self control Rin might have had evaporated. He shifted and pushed Suguro onto his back, moving to straddle him, and he would have kept going if not for Suguro's sudden sharp yelp.

“Shit!” Rin scrambled off, nearly falling off the bed in his haste. “Sorry, I forgot--”

“It's fine,” Suguro hissed. His voice was tight with pain. Rin sat there watching the dim outline of Suguro's figure until he heard Suguro's breathing even out.

Rin rubbed the back of his neck and asked sheepishly, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Suguro said with a sigh. Rin laid back down on his side of the bed.

“Guess we'll just have to wait 'til later,” Rin said cheerfully. Suguro was quiet again, and though he couldn't see it he could feel Suguro's eyes on him.

“So you're really serious,” he said finally. “You, uh, you like me too?”

Rin laughed. “That's what I just said, isn't it?” He felt Suguro's fingers tentatively scrape across his face and closed his eyes, smiling, when Suguro rested the hand on his cheek. He felt a lot lighter now that this was off his chest, now that he no longer had to bury those feelings. His skin tingled where Suguro touched it.

“But wait, when did you start liking me?” Rin asked suddenly. “It seemed like you hated me at first, and then we were kind of friends, but...”

Suguro blew out a breath. “I didn't _hate_ you, you were just...really annoying.”

“Hey!”

“And I think it was when...” Suguro paused. “When you stood up for my dad against me. I was so _pissed_ but at the same time it was like...” He sighed again. “I don't know.”

“I think I get it.” Rin moved a little closer. That, at least, explained the weirdness between them that had followed their battle with the Impure King.

Suguro patted his cheek. “What about you?”

“Hmm.” Rin scratched his head. “Since I first met you, probably. Around then.”

He felt Suguro's fingers stiffen, and after a beat Suguro snapped, “ _Seriously_?! You mean we could have avoided all this? I could have _not_ been hit by a ceiling?!”

“That was your own fault, don't try to blame it on me!” Rin furiously whispered back. Even though he didn't believe that, saying it out loud helped him pretend it was true. “And you could've said something too instead of just acting all weird!”

He could hear the pout in Suguro's voice when he retaliated, “It wasn't that _easy_!”

“You should've just said something. It's not as hard as you're saying.”

“Why didn't _you_ say something, then, if you really liked me from the beginning?!”

Rin frowned thoughtfully. “I guess I didn't really think about it.”

Suguro let out a frustrated groan. He would've kept arguing but Rin leaned forward and kissed his nose (he was aiming for the forehead but even with his vision adjusted it was still very dark in the room).

“Well whatever, we've got it all figured out now, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Suguro said grumpily. He shifted and winced. “Would've been nice to do it before the bruised ribs happened.”

“Still not my fault.” Rin yawned and curled up facing Suguro, tail flicking once before settling on the bed. Suguro scowled, especially when he realized a second later that Rin was already asleep. Closing his eyes, it wasn't long before he followed suit.

Rin slept soundly, dreamlessly, until a familiar loud buzzing penetrated the warm darkness in his mind. He grunted and groped for the phone without looking, finally grabbing it off the nightstand ( _without_ knocking the lamp over, though it was close). As he made to answer he started to sit up before he realized there was an arm around him. It seemed he and Suguro had moved a bit in their sleep.

“Hello?” he asked sleepily, quietly, so as not to wake Suguro.

“Rin! Hey, what's up, kid? I'm just checking in on ya, like I'm supposed to.”

“Shura?” Rin looked at the clock on the nightstand and moaned. “It's 1 am!”

For a beat he heard nothing, and then, “Huh, whaddya know. I guess it is.”

“You did the same thing last night too! Why're you up so late?”

“Because reasons.” He heard Shura yawn and it reminded him that he could have been sleeping right now. “Now tell me what's goin' on. Ya finish your mission yet?”

Too groggy to argue further, Rin told her everything that had happened, only leaving out Suguro's confession and the part where he'd used his flames to kill the ghost. Instead he said,

“And when I got back up I saw the other ghost, Aimi, was holding the Poltergeist, so I grabbed Suguro's book and finished it off with a Sutra.”

It was the story he and Suguro had come up with during the car ride to the hospital in between Miss Abumi's shouting. Suguro had promised he wouldn't tell that Rin had used his flames, and this was the only other possible explanation they had. He'd have to really sell it, though; and he could already tell it wasn't going to be easy when Shura said, voice laden with disbelief,

“ _You_ used a Sutra to stop a ghost? Not your flames?”

“Nope,” Rin insisted. “You said this was my last chance so Suguro started teaching me the Sutras.”

They'd been afraid Shura wouldn't believe him anyway – after all, honestly, who would? - but as soon as he said Suguro's name Shura gave a little “ha!”.

“He did, did he? Well, it's about time,” she said, and he could hear her smile through the phone. He frowned.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Shura replied. “Well, since you've wrapped everything up over there I'll see ya tomorrow. Night!”

“Shura, wait a second--!”

She hung up before he could finished his sentence, and Rin irritably put the phone back on the nightstand. Convincing her had been easier than he'd thought, and he wanted to know why she'd immediately believed him once he'd mentioned Suguro. Did this have something to do with what had happened between them...? If that was the case, how did _she_ know?!

He settled back down, gently snuggling up against Suguro. He decided he wouldn't worry about it and prepared himself to go back to sleep. This time as he started drifting off he was brought back to consciousness by a cold breeze on his face and a familiar whisper.

 _Rin_.

His eyes flew open and it took all of his willpower not to jump out of his skin. Just like the night before, the second person to interrupt his beauty sleep was Aimi, who was standing right next to the bed in all of her translucent glory.

“Why can't any of you wait until the morning?” he complained loudly, then, remembering Suguro was still asleep, lowered his voice. “And stop scaring me like that!”

“Sorry,” she said, but he noticed she was smiling a little, and it dawned on him that the probable cause was the way he was gripping the arm Suguro had wrapped around him. He blushed and let go, briefly thinking that it was a miracle Suguro hadn't woken up yet.

“I just came to say goodbye,” Aimi continued. Rin's eyebrows furrowed.

“...Oh, yeah, that's right!” He switched to a grin. “I forgot that we were leaving tomorrow. But we'll come back and visit sometime!”

Aimi shook her head. “I'm not going to be here anymore, Rin. I'm moving on. That's why I'm saying goodbye.”

“ _What_?” Rin stared. “But why? What about Suki, and Miss Abumi?”

“Suki's getting too old for an 'imaginary friend'. I have to let her go.” Aimi looked like she wanted to cry, if ghosts could even do that. “And as for Haruka...it's better that she never knows I was the ghost Suki was talking to.”

“But don't you think she'd be happy to see you?”

“Oh yes, I know she would. That's the problem. Haruka and I were very close when I was alive, and she's only recently come to terms with my passing. If she knew I was still around...” Aimi stared off into space. “I've already been here too long. It's time to go before it becomes too hard.”

“But--”

“Thank you for your help, Rin Okumura.” For a moment she glowed brightly, so bright that Rin had to shield his eyes, and then she was gone. Spots danced in his vision.

He felt Suguro shift behind him. “Rin...?”

His stomach immediately erupted into butterflies. Suguro had never used his first name before.

“Yeah?”

“Whass goin' on?” His words slurred with fatigue and he rested his chin in the crook of Rin's neck. It made Rin smile.

“Nothing. Go back to sleep.” Then, thinking better of it, he turned slightly toward Suguro and asked, “Does this mean I can call you Ryuuji now?”

Suguro yawned and laid back down. “Yeah.”

“What about Bon? Can I call you Bon?”

He chuckled sleepily. “Hell no.”

Disappointed, Rin nevertheless settled back against Suguro and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for him to pass out again and this time he slept through the night without any more interruptions.

Thanks to the alarm they got up on time and packed up their stuff to leave. The only hitch in the process was when Run had to help Suguro change his shirt (an awkward process full of quiet swearing and insults) but they eventually finished getting ready and went downstairs to say goodbye. Miss Abumi was very polite, thanking them again for their help while also silently urging them to leave as quickly as possible. Rin was restless; he wished he could tell her about her sister, but Aimi hadn't wanted that, so instead he smiled blandly through the farewells. Haruka had at least woken Suki up to see him off; she asked if he would come back and play with her again and Rin, feeling Haruka's eyes boring into his skull, said he'd try but with all his schoolwork it might be hard. Haruka gave a tiny nod of approval and patted her disappointed daughter on the shoulder.

When they left the rest of the city was just starting to wake up. The train was nearly empty – they sat next to each other, close but not too close, both still unsure of where they stood and what level of PDA they should engage in.

“We've got the rest of the day off,” Ryuuji said eventually. He was carefully lifting his arm to put around Rin's shoulders but Rin had had the same thought and they clashed in midair. Both dropped their arms, blushing and staring off in opposite directions.

“Oh yeah. You wanna do something?”

Ryuuji crossed his arms and shrugged. The tips of his ears were pink. “Sure, I'd be up for something. What've you got in mind?”

“I dunno. I've never been on a date before.”

Ryuuji let out a “Ha!” and grinned at Rin. “Really?”

“Well, I mean, I—I always had better stuff to do!” Rin replied defensively. “What about you, huh? How many dates have _you_ had?” He instantly regretted the question, remembering how popular Ryuuji was with the girls in school. To his surprise, though, Ryuuji's grin dropped and he looked away.

“Oh, well, one or two, I don't remember, it's been a while--”

“You haven't been on a date either, have you!” Rin laughed, half in triumph and half in relief, as Ryuuji glared at him.

“I was always busy! And it didn't seem worth the trouble.”

“Uh-huh.” Rin beamed. “You can't laugh at me, then.”

“ _Whatever_.” Ryuuji huffed. “We still need to think of something to do.”

Rin contemplated for a moment, then said, “Why don't we just hang out in my room? We could watch a movie or something. I wanna go home and make breakfast anyway.”

“Breakfast sounds good,” Suguro agreed, nodding. “Let's do that.”

When they finally got back to Rin's place they deposited their stuff on the floor and Rin, glad for once that Yukio wasn't there, started grabbing stuff to make them something to eat. Ukobach helped while Ryuuji and Kuro sat at the counter and watched. Kuro didn't realize what had changed at first until he noticed that Rin kept glancing over at Ryuuji and smiling unconsciously, and when their eyes met once or twice both looked away quickly and blushed.

Kuro let out a little gasp. 'It finally happened!'

Rin kept his attention on the eggs he was cooking. 'What happened?'

'You two happened!'

Rin turned and beamed. 'Yup, we did!'

'Ha! That means Ukobach owes me sake!'

Rin's attitude changed drastically, so that instead of thinking it he yelled, “You were _betting_ on us?!”

Ryuuji and Ukobach stared at him. Kuro meowed in distress.

'What's wrong with that?'

“I just wanna know why everyone's so interested in who I'm dating!”

Ryuuji was turning pinker as it slowly dawned on him (seeing as he was only hearing one half of the conversation) what the two of them were talking about. Kuro and Rin, meanwhile, jus tkept going.

'Cuz it's fun.' Kuro wagged his tails. 'Ukobach said he thought you'd pick Shiemi but I said this guy, so we made a bet and--'

“Shura wasn't in on this, right? Because I get the feeling--”

“Hey!” Ryuuji interrupted. Both Rin and Kuro stopped and looked at him. “Whatever you're talking about? Stop. It's weirding me out.” He pointed at the stove behind Rin. “And you should watch your eggs, Okumura.”

Rin blinked once, then laughed and went back to cooking. He made them a huge breakfast, of which Ryuuji was only able to finish a small fraction, while Kuro and Rin together polished off the rest. It was nice, Rin thought as they washed the dishes afterward, how _easy_ this had become. Ryuuji even started another soap bubble fight which, unlike the last time, ended without an argument and less of a mess – though the latter was because halfway through he pushed Rin up against the sink and they made out until the pain in Ryuuji's ribs forced them to stop. After cleaning up the three of them – Rin, Ryuuji, and Kuro, of course, who seemed oblivious to the concept of a third wheel – moved to Rin's room and they spent the rest of the day watching whatever movies they found. Rin laid with his head in Ryuuji's lap and Kuro sitting on his stomach; he almost fell asleep a few times and actually did at one point when Ryuuji started combing fingers through his hair.

He woke up after the third movie had ended. Rin looked up and noticed that Ryuuji, who was sitting on the bed with his back against the wall, had also fallen asleep. He reached up, careful not to disturb Kuro (who was snoozing on his stomach) and poked Ryuuji in the soft flesh under his chin until he giggled and came to.

“Wha-What?” Ryuuji yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “What time is it?”

“Don't know.” Rin watched him. “Whaddyou wanna do now?”

Ryuuji looked down at him and shrugged. “Doesn't matter. I should probably go back to my own room soon, though.”

Rin grunted. “Yeah, I guess.”

Ryuuji laughed. “You've had me for the last three days. Honestly I'm starting to get sick fo you.”

“Oh yeah? Well...I was starting to get sick of you _first_.”

“Rin, that was a terrible comeback.”

“You mean that was a _great_ comeback--”

They were interrupted when they heard a key in the door lock; Rin planned to stay right where he was but Ryuuji, ears turning red and acting on impulse, shoved him onto the floor. Rin rolled off and hit the ground hard, glaring at Ryuuji as Yukio opened the door and stepped inside. Kuro, meanwhile, woke up with a yowl and ran off into the kitchen.

“Rin? Suguro?” Yukio looked from one to the other. Rin beamed back at him from the floor, wondering what the situation looked like from his brother's perspective. After a beat, Yukio simply pushed up his glasses and smiled.

“So you're done with your mission? That's good. I wasn't sure you'd be able to finish on time.”

Rin sat up. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Yukio's smile remained bland. “I'm just glad to hear you did so well.”

“Thanks,” Rin said warily. He glanced up as Ryuuji stood, wincing slightly.

“I should go.” He hesitated above Rin for a second, then gave him a little wave. “See you guys tomorrow.” Cutting a wide berth around Yukio, he grabbed his stuff and, without another word, walked out the door. There was an awkward silence before Yukio, side-eyeing Rin, said finally,

“That was strange. Did something happen to you two on your mission?”

“What? No, nothing,” Rin replied automatically. He grinned and pushed himself to his feet. “Ryu...Suguro's probably just grumpy 'cause he got hurt.”

“I see.” Yukio walked over and sat down at the table, stretching his back as he did. “So how did it go? What happened?”

Rin sat across from him, sprawling over the chair and stifling a yawn. He started from the beginning, when he and Ryuuji had met up outside the school three days ago. He told Yukio everything except, of course, the bit where he used his flames. For some reason he also withheld everything that had happened between him and Ryuuji. It didn't matter, really, if Yukio knew (he'd find out sooner or later anyway) and he didn't care, but he still found himself omitting those bits. They almost felt too intimate to share, even with his twin. Plus every time he thought about saying some of it out loud his cheeks started to turn red in embarrassment. Even in his head it all sounded too ridiculous to be real, as if he'd pulled a confession scene straight from a shoujo light novel.

When he finished his abridged version of the mission, Yukio gave him a skeptical look. But if he doubted any part of Rin's story – especially the conclusion where Rin defeated the Poltergeist through Sutra, something that he had never bothered to study in class – he didn't say so. Instead his features eventually relaxed into another smile.

“You did a good job, Brother,” Yukio said. “Maybe no you'll start doing better in your classes on chants.”

“It's different in class,” Rin said indignantly, crossing his arms.

The rest of their night passed smoothly, though Yukio was still distant. Rin was too exhausted – even with all of that sleep – to worry about it, and after dinner he went to bed early. Because of that he actually woke up on time for once, and when he got to school he found Ryuuji waiting for him by the front steps. _Now_ he acknowledged the quick flip his stomach performed and the way his pulse quicked, sins he'd ignored before. His face split into an easy grin as he approached, one Ryuuji mirrored when he noticed him.

“Hey.” Ryuuji stayed where he was leaning against the side of the stairs.

“Hey.” Rin stopped in front of him, rubbing the back of his neck. “You feeling better?”

Ryuuji made a face. “Not really. It's only been, what, a day? The pain meds help, though.”

“That's good,” Rin said lamely. Ryuuji watched him for a moment, then looked away, shaking his head and smiling.

“What?”

“You're not good at this either, are you?”

Rin scowled and glared at a spot over Ryuuji's shoulder.

“I've never _done_ this before, remember?”

“I know.” Ryuuji moved closer and, cheeks darkening as he glanced around, gave Rin a quick peck on the lips. The pointed tips of Rin's ears went red but he was beaming when Ryuuji pulled away.

“Let's especially do _that_ more.”

“Yeah, well, maybe after class.” Ryuuji hesitated, then turned and walked toward the steps. He was a little startled when Rin came up beside him and slipped a hand into his.

“You okay?” Rin asked casually. He tried not to betray that he was nervous too. Nervous that Ryuuji would say no. He was still, as the quiet voice of all his doubts reminded him, a son of Satan. Rin could pretend that it didn't bother him, the way people who knew reacted to him, but Ryuuji was a different matter altogether. Ryuuji might not want their friends to know.

Yet Ryuuji smirked and nodded, twining his fingers through Rin's as they walked up to the school entrance.

“Just fine. What should we tell everyone?”

Rin, relieved, gave a little shrug. “I don't care. We don't have to tell them anything.”

Ryuuji snorted, knowing that meant that everyone would know everything by lunch; Rin was terrible at keeping secrets. Instead of saying that, though, he said nothing and squeezed Rin's hand and together they went inside.

From way up in his floating chair, Mephisto watched the two boys walk into the Academy. He frowned and scribbled something into a thick notebook in his lap.

“This is quite the surprise,” he said to his brother, the hamster perched on his shoulder. “My calculations were way off.” The hamster chattered somehing. “Yes, I thought the same! Surely Shiemi would have given in first...” Mephisto scratched a few things out in his notebook, then tapped his pen against his lips.

“I'll have to--” he started, then glanced up by chance and noticed two other figures walking up the stairs together. Though they were far away he could still see that they too were holding hands. His frown flipped into a broad grin and he feverishly wrote something else down.

“So _that's_ what happened!” Amaimon chattered in his ear and he nodded. “No, I didn't expect _that_ either. Humans aren't as easy to predict as I thought.” He finished writing and closed the notebook with a flourish. Then he leaned forward in the chair, eyes twinkling as he watched the figures disappear into the school.

“Well, brother,” he said, turning his grin on the hamster, “We'll just have to see how this plays out.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so some of the details about rin's powers and canon stuff may be fuzzy, and i apologize for that. also you can bet your sweet butt that mephisto has a shipping chart (which he's writing about at the end there; ten bucks to whoever can guess the second couple he sees). 
> 
> anyway that's all for this fic, i know it wasn't the greatest but i hope everyone had fun anyway!


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